Hello I've had a Wii Fit since Christmas time and if you've been thinking of getting one as a way to lose weight i can advise you against it. The Active comming out on May 19th from EA Sports for the Wii seems to be the much better choice. But first a critque of the problems of the Fit.
The Wii fit uses a BMI system in order to determine how "fit" you are and while such a system can be a good measure of weight it does not take muscle mass into account and muscle as you may know weighs more than fat, so for a person like myself with very muscular legs I am considered near obese for my height when really I'm fit except for a bit of a tummy.
Now you may argue that the balance board is a great piece of technology and that i'm expecting too much from it but if my bathroom scale can tell me what % of my body is fat then why can't my glorified bathroom scale the balance board?
The Fit is also useless because there is no built in routine for the workouts. You simply do as much of whichever workout you feel like at any given time and get scored on how well you complete it. The Fit will not tell you that doing nothing but pushups all day for a week is bad for your body, (it is) only what % accuracy you had in doing them and how long it took you.
For the people who bought the Fit to get in shape i think that it's safe to say that the majority of them bought the fit to teach them how to get fit, (so they could get in shape in the privacy of their living rooms without having to be seen in a gym or take the time out to go to the gym) and therefore making their own routine from the Fit exercises is a skill they don't possess.
Also the only time that the Fit that talks about food is if you are a lot heavier one day to than the last, then it gives you options of excuses as to why which include snacking and late eating. Food is an essential component to fitness and if you really need that information the game "My weightloss coach" for the DS was released and covers food and specific exercises for another $50 also this program doesn't incorporate the Fit or balance board so for people who already bought the Fit it was a kick to the pants. Wii "My fitness coach" came out very quietly at the begining of December and is a bit better in that it gives you the opportunity to choose "weight loss routine" as an exercise type but there is limited variety and the subject of food is again not covered.
Whereas the with the Active:
(info from http://www.easportsactive.com/product.action)
You can track your progress with the journal feature in which you set your fitness goals and then check back daily to see how well you’re doing. You can also use it to log information like the foods you eat so that the Active can help you eat smarter.
The is also an included resistance band and leg holster for the nunchuck to give the game acurate readings of your body position and to include resistance training. The Active is also compatible with the Wii Balance Board™ so there was a point in getting the fit after all (besides for we ski).
Also the program was designed with the assistance of famous fitness guru Bob Greene and has 25+ activity types which it switches up for you every day working towards your goal. Cross-training at it's best.
So Discuss:
Have you been disappointed by the Wii Fit?
Do you plan to buy EA Sports Active? and do you like it's features?
Have you had any success with either my weight-loss or fitness coach games?
Do you have any other games that use the balance board and how are they?